RIVERDALE, N.Y. --- Heavy rain and Friday night traffic around New York may have delayed the arrival of the Fairfield University men's basketball team but it did not stop the Stags from enjoying their best shooting night of the season. The team shot a season-high 62 percent from the floor (26 of 42) and never trailed in the game as Fairfield ended its regular season with a 66-50 win over Manhattan College.
"The New York traffic and the weather were not on our side tonight but we got off to a good start anyway and that carried us through," Head Coach
Jay Young said. "Steve (Masiello) does a good job and they are a tough team so we knew they would make a run at us in the second half. They took a run and we were able to withstand it with a couple of baskets. I'm really proud of the way we played tonight."
The quick start included the Stags netting seven of their first eight shots from the field. By the second media timeout, Fairfield had doubled up Manhattan at 16-7 and built on that lead for the rest of the night. At the heart the Stags' offensive success was
Jesus Cruz, who came off the bench to score 21 points. The junior has tallied 20 or more points as a reserve three times this year and six overall.
"Jesus is making good plays for us," Coach Young said. "He was 8 of 11 but also had three assists and only one turnover so I really love those numbers. He was able to get in the middle of their zone and make some plays. We needed him because that's a spot that was open and he is able to make plays in that area of the floor."
Fairfield's lead reached double figures shortly after that media timeout as
Vincent Eze's basket pushed the lead to 19-9. After a three-point field goal from Tykei Greene,
Landon Taliaferro posted five straight points, including his only three pointer of the night that doubled up the Jaspers once again at 24-12 with seven minutes remaining.
The Stags would keep that trend of 2-for-1 by halftime, taking a 34-17 lead into the locker room with Cruz scoring five of those late points.
The second half saw Manhattan make that run to which Coach Young eluded. Fairfield managed to build its lead to a game-high 21 points at 40-19 after Taliaferro's jumper with 17:50 on the clock. The Jaspers scored seven straight points to turn the momentum their way, a run that was eventually stopped by another Taliaferro jumper from the corner.
That 21-point advantage was cut by 15 points over the next 10 minutes, a stretch that culminated with a basket from Tyler Reynolds which made the score 50-44 with seven-plus minutes on the clock. Fairfield quelled the Manhattan attack with four straight points from Cruz and another two-pointer from Taliaferro which allowed Fairfield to regain its double-digit lead with five minutes remaining.
"I really like the fact that Landon scored 19 points tonight and made just one three pointer," Coach Young said. "He made some twos tonight and that's what he has to do when they are guarding him. So it was a really efficient box score for him tonight."
Taliaferro ended the night with 19 points, his fourth straight game in double figures. The guard has averaged 16 points per game during the final four contests of the regular season.
Taj Benning finished the night with a strong line, scoring seven points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing off four assists. Pauly Paulicap registered a double-double for Manhattan with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Samir Steward led all Jasper scorers with 12 points.
Fairfield and Manhattan will meet for the third time in the first round of the 2020 Hercules Tire MAAC Men's Basketball Championship at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The two teams will play at 5 pm which is also the first men's game of the tournament. The winner of the game will meet top-seeded Siena College on Wednesday, March 11 at 7 pm. Both of those games will be broadcasted on ESPN3. Visit the Fairfield University basketball
tournament central page for more details.
